


Eternal

by EKing (TehGareBear)



Category: Original Work
Genre: Cult, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, M/M, cult escape
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-09-16
Updated: 2020-11-02
Packaged: 2021-03-07 02:07:06
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Rape/Non-Con, Underage
Chapters: 3
Words: 10,179
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26499112
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/TehGareBear/pseuds/EKing
Summary: Lee grew up in a community so secluded on private land, everyone is convinced that the woods that edge it mark the end of their world and Beyond belongs to their Lord. When he is chosen as Sacrifice and cast out of their community, Lee discovers that a world exists on the other side of the trees. A world that keeps going and going and seems either a dream and the fields of Eternity, or a cruel joke before his punishment would begin.Faced with a whole new reality, Lee does his best to navigate his new life with the help of Vincent Martin, a social worker and mastermind over a generational plot to slowly chip away at the cult and eventually rescue the starving populace in the woods. With Vincent to lean on, Lee slowly learns to accept things about himself that he'd been forced to hide from, including accepting that he wants his savior to be more than a friend.
Kudos: 4





	1. 1

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Non-con is a mention, not a scene.

Chapter 1

It was too silent to be home. 

Silence was the first thing Lee registered, after the throbbing headache and the strange, cottony feeling that wrapped itself around the rest of his senses. Home was never so quiet, not with eleven siblings trying to find peace with only three bedrooms between them.

Slowly, he peeled back his eyelids, fighting through what felt like sand to blink them open and blear up at the canopied four-poster he was settled in. It was definitely not his bed, the soft beaten cotton beneath his fingers not the rough and worn sheets he was accustomed to, the heavy blanket pressing him into the entirely too soft mattress completely foreign. The air smelled almost fragranced and lacked the heavy scent of old wood and too much dust, too many bodies in too close quarters. 

The room was dark and Lee was drugged. He knew he must be, what with the slow way his mind took everything in. So slowly that it seemed to accept everything well before he could work himself up into a panic over the wrongness of it all. It was a strange visage for an afterlife either way. 

Whatever was dulling his senses made waking up that much harder, the ache in his skull coming and going in a lazy wave that had him sinking back into sleep. Lee wasn’t sure how many times he repeated the cycle of waking, but something moist against his lips startled him awake, his body barely flinching, and eyes once again stuck like glue. He groaned and couldn’t decide if he wanted to turn his head away or not, his mouth was drier than anything. 

Whatever it was stopped and Lee nearly mourned it. Lord, he was thirsty. Was this the afterlife? Eternal sleep and dreadful thirst? It wasn’t nearly as bad as he’d been told, if that were the case. Of course, perhaps the torture started slowly? Lee could easily imagine being driven to madness, constantly teased with water only to have it withheld as soon as it started to soothe. 

Unless, by some miracle, he’d been found virtuous by his Lord despite being cast out of the Order and he was slowly waking to the glory of the Eternal Kingdom. 

“Mr. Johnston? Mr. Johnston, can you hear me?” a woman’s voice spoke softly. 

Lee scowled and forced his eyes open the rest of the way, turning his head toward the voice. There was more light in the room than the last time he’d woken, some coming in through a window beside the bed that he hadn’t noticed before, the rest coming from strangely luminescent fixtures on the walls. It hid nothing of the woman standing beside him, dressed in an odd blue uniform that should certainly never be seen on any respectable woman. Her hands were gloved and as he watched her, she dropped something onto a table beside her and leaned over… Dear Lord, what was that monstrous contraption?

Even confronted with all the horrors of what was certainly not the Eternal Kingdom, her kind smile - and whatever drug he was certainly still on - eased some of his panic. “It’s good to see you awake, Mr. Johnston. We were beginning to worry. Can you hear me?”

Lee blinked at her and she waited patiently for him to swallow before he aborted the attempt at speech and nodded instead. It felt like it took all of eternity to move his head those few inches, and he finally noticed that his head seemed… restrained?

The woman didn’t like that, leaning over the bed to adjust whatever was around his neck. “Try not to move too much, Mr. Johnston. You’ve had a lot of trauma to your head and back. Can you speak?” Lee tried again and managed a weak croak and a cough that jarred every inch of him, as small as it was. The woman hummed and fussed at her table, clicked away at the glowing contraption before her. “My name is Juliette. I’ve been taking care of you for the last four days. You’ve been in and out of consciousness for quite a while, Mr. Johnston. It’s good to finally have some interaction with you,” she explained, that peaceful sort of smile returning to her face. 

Lee was horrifyingly confused. With a smile as kind as she had, and her gentle touches meant for healing, there was no way such a woman could be a devil. Yet she dressed as a man, in clothing too thin, and tended to him without another woman present in the room to protect her honor. It was the highest of scandals, but no one came running, to defend or accuse her. 

Perhaps angels did not truly follow the teachings of their Lord as the scripture said? But that was a blasphemous thought indeed. Why, if she really was an angel, was she even a _she_?

Lee blinked and slowly surveyed the room again, the painted walls in a color he couldn’t name, with paintings hanging from metal frames over furniture with a high polish. There were more windows along one wall, a set of doors on the other. 

Juliette leaned over the bed again and Lee subconsciously shrunk away from her. She didn’t seem to notice his reluctance, holding out a cup, with a cap, and an odd metal stick protruding from the top, bent at an angle. Lee focused on it and noticed it was hollow. “This is a straw. If you suck on it, there’s water for you to drink in the cup. Do you want a drink?”

Lee blinked at her. Then blinked at the cup. “A straw?” he rasped, immediately pausing for a small coughing fit that encouraged a dull ache through his entire torso. Juliette just nodded. Lee stared at the object again. That was not straw, but the idea of water was too much to resist. He leaned forward and Juliette placed the end of it in his mouth. It took a moment for him to figure out the action, muscles and brain having to once again warm up to the idea of working together, but the cool relief of water rushing into his mouth and down his gullet had Lee’s eyes fluttering shut with delight. Before he knew it, he’d sucked it down, the ‘straw’ making a hollow, rattling sound when there was nothing left to give. 

Lee frowned when Juliette took the cup away. “Don’t worry, you can have some more if that stays in your stomach,” she assured him. It had the vague undertone of threat, but Lee didn’t comment. 

He looked around the glowing room again. Surely this much ethereal light was a sign of the Eternal Kingdom? But if he was ascended, why did he ache? Why was he stuck in a bed? Shouldn’t his injuries be healed?

“Where… am I?” he rasped, looking up at Juliette. 

“This is the private residence of Mr. Andrew Martin Senior. You arrived here four days ago Monday, the eighteenth of May. Do you remember?”

Lee blinked slowly, mind trying to process her words. Private residence? Four days ago? ...Did he remember?

It was like stumbling down a dark hallway, thinking back on the events that happened before he woke. Lee’s heart raced and his vision went distant, the anxious sound of Juliette’s voice lost to him as he was once again sitting in the Alderman’s house. He’d been stuck in a separate room, the walls barren except for a few images of the Lord, placards with various prayers of penitence, and the single wooden bench in the middle of it all, just in front of the only window. The rough texture of the Good Book clutched in his hands was grounding as he listened to the group of elders hold council in the room over. 

They had assumed he couldn’t hear them. That had been what he was thinking at the time, as he listened to them decide his fate. Lee had thought himself lucky and free of being considered for Sacrifice. He was nineteen. He’d finally accepted betrothal. He had nearly completed his gauntlet to Journeyman of the Lord. So why was he there listening to the Elders deliberate Sacrifice?

“It took the boy three years to decide to accept betrothal. We all know he isn’t truly right with the Lord,” the voice of his uncle rattled through the wall. It was so thunderously deep Lee didn’t think they truly expected him not to hear their conversation. 

“That isn’t true. Some are just late bloomers,” came the softer voice of another uncle.

“There are no late bloomers. Not where the Lord’s will is concerned. Especially not these days,” his first uncle, Samuel, retorted. Lee thought it was only right that the man staunchly defended the Lord’s word in the Good Book. Samuel was next in line for Alderman. 

Lee clutched the book tighter in his lap, eyes gazing out the window at nothing. It had been a sunny day at least. The days were starting to get warmer. Hopefully, Lord willing, their farms would yield a higher crop this year and so many Sacrifices wouldn’t have to be made to keep their bellies full. 

“Not to mention how many questions the boy asks. Perhaps he should be the example of what happens when the Lord is questioned so freely?” snapped an even older uncle, one closest in age to the Alderman himself.

“Choose your words more carefully, Silas,” the Alderman grumbled, old and also deep and not lacking in strength despite his age. Silas deferred to him with a grumble. 

“There’s also the matter of fairness. Elder Jon hasn’t had to submit nearly as many male Sacrifices as the other Brothers,” argued Uncle Samuel. 

“It seems a waste to send off a Journeyman. And at his age, would the Sacrifice even be accepted?” said the soft spoken Uncle Sanford.

“Jon has so few male heirs to begin with. The younger ones are all well learned and obedient to… the Lord. His eldest is already twice married with five children, none of which are old enough for Sacrifice. It is Jon’s Herd’s turn to submit. Lee is the most sensible choice. The younger boys watch him, don’t think for a minute they don’t. Better to remove temptation, demonstrate that the Word of the Lord shall not be questioned,” Silas pressed. He earned another grumble from the Alderman, but seemed undeterred. 

“I hesitate to hold his greatest offense against him too strongly. He questioned the legitimacy of taking a young bride,” said Sanford. “The Lord demands a child within the first year of marriage and I think he’s right to be concerned for her health.”

“He questioned the Lord and that’s the end of it. Such questions need punished,” Silas snapped. 

“Well perhaps if you hadn’t taken on a twenty-fifth wife, Silas, Lee might have wed Marianne instead and wouldn’t question having to marry a thirteen year old,” snapped Uncle Jaffa, Lee’s father’s older brother. 

“She’ll be fourteen a fortnight after the wedding, perfectly able to accept seed and pass brood,” Silas scoffed. “Not that it matters. Lee is a danger to the Order. He’ll drag everyone into the Darkness. Tell Brother Jon that Lance has been given permission from the Lord to wed Ellen in Lee’s place. It will at least give the line some variety.”

“You speak out of turn, Silas. The decision is not yours to make,” Jaffa pressed. 

Silas scoffed. “Hold a vote, Alderman.”

There was silence from the room. Lee felt cold all over, his grip on his book so tight he could no longer feel his fingers. This was it. If Silas and Samuel were in agreement, then Lee was chosen. He didn’t fully understand the way they spoke, as though their decision was weightier than that of the Lord’s. But Lee knew if the eldest of the Elders decided something, then the Lord’s decision was sure to match it. 

They said it was because the highest of the Elders held the Lord’s favor and could hear the whisperings nearly as well as the Alderman. But Lee had witnessed otherwise, and he supposed that was the greatest of his sins. In doing so he had questioned the Lord. But what was he supposed to think? Silas had sneered at him for courting Marianne, and the next either of them knew it was announced that Marianne had been ordered by the Lord to take the role of Silas’ twenty-fifth wife. It was the Lord’s will and she was already a month with her first child. Ellen, her younger sister, was Lee’s only choice, as the rest of the eligible women had been wed off to be first wives to Lee’s brothers and cousins, or any number of wives to the older Brother’s of the Order. 

It was the Lord’s will. The Lord demanded. The Lord _demanded_.

It didn’t matter that Lee’s stomach churned and his body rebelled at the very thought of fulfilling the Lord’s demands. 

He heard the sound of the Alderman’s gavel echo through the wall, dropping back into his body, the sound of his own heart making it hard to hear their decision. 

“I will gather the Brother’s and his young cousins to finish the deed. We’ll send him along the Lord’s Highway tonight,” Silas said, sounding smug. 

“Tonight? It’s a long journey into the afterlife to make in such cold weather,” Sanford grumbled. 

“Serves the man on the hill right,” Samuel spat. “He can have a broken boy if he wants them so badly.”

Lee’s book tumbled from his hands as the door to his room opened.

All he remembered after that was pain, garbled pronouncements that he had questioned the Lord too much and the Lord was merciful and would accept Lee’s Sacrifice in exchange for filling the storehouse for the Good People, and terrible, terrible fear. He was stripped to linens, barefoot, whipped, stoned, and dragged to the Lord’s Highway by a rope at his neck. Penitence. Penitence for questioning the Lord. He would suffer these mortal pains on his way to fulfill his duty as Sacrifice. His one last glorious act for the betterment of the Good People. Of the Order. 

His older cousins finished the job. The town had disappeared into the darkness of The Lord’s Highway, the oil lanterns the boys brought with them the only things lighting the dirt path. The beating they gave him was unlike anything Lee had ever experienced, even after the many times he’d been punished for his blasphemy. He’d witnessed whippings and stoning for offenders of the Lord, but it was against the Lord’s word to lay hands on another. His cousins hit him with fists and feet until he was a broken mess on the road, gasping for breath, spinning into the darkness. 

They spat on him, left him with the heavy rope around his neck, and abandoned him to the darkness. Lee’s only option from there was to follow the road and hope it led to his salvation. 

He remembered something bright when he topped the distant hill and looked down into the valley beyond. Lee had sworn it was the sun before he’d collapsed, too weak and exhausted to go any further. 

Something burned along his arm and Lee gasped, looking wildly around the room and down to where the fire bloomed under his skin. Juliette had pushed the blanket back, revealing bandages, tubes, and wires wrapped and taped against his skin. Lee watched her pull a needle free from a tube that protruded from his arm, the burn lessening.

“What did you… do… to…” The panic subsided and a wave of drowsiness had Lee dropping back against the bed as though he weighed tons. He huffed and groaned, confused. His chest and shoulders ached, belly twisted with nausea. Was this his end?

“It’s okay, Mr. Johnston. You had a panic attack. I gave you something to calm you down. You’re going to go back to sleep for a little while. We’ll reevaluate when you wake up again,” Juliette said, tucking the blanket around him and giving him one of those angelic smiles. He dropped into sleep with the image of her shining face haloed in light. 


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Lee wakes up more fully and has a bath and a meal while Juliette gives him a check-up.
> 
> warnings for: medical questioning, embarrassment, mild descriptions of physical assault

There were songbirds when Lee woke next. His eyes were less dry, even though his mouth was a desert once again, and the soft kiss of a warm breeze didn’t help the dryness. He breathed deep the smell of fresh air, undercut with the bright scent of flowers. Lee blinked his eyes open to find himself alone, the sconces on the walls dimmed and all the curtains open to let in the natural light. The light itself was a soft, warm glow. The end of the day for sure. It was a delight that the breeze coming through the open window was still so warm. 

The monstrous thing that had been beside the bed was gone, pushed against the wall and lacking all the blinking lights and pulses. Loops of thin wires and tubes were neatly wound and bound to the sides, patiently waiting for their next victim. 

Lee blinked at it and slowly pushed aside the blanket to inspect himself. It was a struggle, moving his limbs, his strength sapped away, no doubt from the many days of sleep and lack of food. He huffed and gave himself a moment to rest, pondering that. He was hungry, but not nearly as ravenous as he thought he should have been. Was that the glory of the Eternal Kingdom? But Juliette had said he was in some very mundanely named man’s house?

Lee huffed and pushed to sitting. His head spun and for a moment the world dimmed and the pressure increased in his head. He took a few deep breaths, closing his eyes, and the feeling passed. Clearly he’d been abed too long. 

He wasn’t in his linens. What he was wearing was thinner and newer with an odd polka dot pattern that made him flush in embarrassment. His arms were still bandaged, but the tubes and wires that had been attached to him from his fingers to the crook of his arm and had trailed up into his sleeve, were gone. Some of the bandages at his elbow were gone, replaced by a single strip that itched and nestled in the center of slightly bruised skin. He flexed his fingers and felt only stiffness, the burn he’d fallen asleep to gone. His other arm had the remnants of bruises and scratches that had been cleaned well and left to heal. 

Lee carefully pushed the blanket back to see the rest of him and his eyes widened to see he was wearing a ...dress?!

The door on the far side of the room clicked open. Lee quickly tugged the blanket over himself, up to his chin to hide his shame. Juliette walked in and gave him a bright, kind smile. Good graces, had she cared for him in such a state of undress the entire time?

“You look so much better, Mr. Johnston. How are you feeling?” she asked cheerily, wheeling a metal table ahead of her. It held another strange device and bowls and boxes on a lower level. She was still dressed inappropriately in men's slacks and not a stay in sight. 

“Um… dizzy,” he rasped. He cleared his throat and Juliette was instantly there with water. “Thank you.” It was the same cup as before, with the Not Straw stuck from the middle of it. 

“It’s not unusual to be dizzy after lying down for so long, but we’ll keep an eye on it and you tell me if it gets any worse, okay?” she gently urged, eyes on the bright device and fingers flying over the flat surface. 

“Yes, ma’am,” he whispered, clearing his throat again. He gladly sucked down the water, as odd as everything was. 

“How’s your pain level?”

“All right? My neck and shoulders hurt a bit,” he said shyly, reaching up to rub self consciously at his bare skin. Even the skin there was quite tender, his neck obstructed by an odd half-cushion that was snug to the back and sides of his neck. He scratched beneath it, developing gooseflesh at the delightful itch. 

Juliette just nodded in understanding. “You have extensive bruising from the rope that had been around your neck, and blunt trauma to your back and shoulders. Were you dragged at all, Mr. Johnston?” she asked, turning her eyes away from the device to steadily study him. 

Lee went cold for a moment from the memory of being hauled forward by the rope when he’d dropped to his knees. He gulped around the soreness. “Yes.” Juliette’s fingers clicked away. 

“I know this is difficult, and I understand if you’re not prepared to discuss it right now. It’s for your medical records while we’re treating you here at the Martin residence. Were you beaten with any instruments?”

Lee blinked, feeling almost dazed as he looked up at her. “Instruments?”

“Boards, planks, clubs.” she coached. 

Lee blinked at the grey, paisley bedspread. “I… stones. I was stoned on my way to the Lord’s Highway.” Juliette made her notes. “My… my cousins laid hands on me on the highway,” he mumbled, hardly believing the memory. “Why would they break the word of the Lord to lay hands on me?” He whispered the latter, not really expecting an answer. It didn’t make any sense anyway. 

Juliette just crooned in sympathy and took back his empty cup, refilling it from a pitcher on her table. “I’m sure you’re very confused and have a lot of questions right now. But first things first, I want to get you healthy and on your feet again. You’ve been through a very traumatic experience and have a long road of recovery ahead of you.” Lee’s only answer was to sigh. “Do you think you can stand up?”

Lee blushed. “C-certainly not, I…”

“If you’d be more comfortable with a male orderly, I can have a gentleman come in to assist you,” Juliette offered sweetly. Lee looked up at her and knew instantly that she’d already seen him, if not completely naked then surely mostly. He’d been barely dressed when he’d arrived as it was. 

“I… I can manage. Might you, ah… avert your eyes, miss?” he nearly pleaded. Another one of his sins against the Lord. One did not plead from a woman. He swallowed down that shame and blinked away the sting in his eyes. Now was not the time for such thoughts. 

“Yes. This is for you,” she said, moving toward one of the doors and grabbing an odd metal thing. She opened the door while she was there and Lee could see the blurry signs of a bathing room. 

Blurry as he realized his glasses were gone. 

Juliette placed the metal thing beside the bed and threw back the blankets. Lee jumped, grabbing the hem of the ungodly dress and tugging it down to cover his gangly knees. “Ah, I … please. Um… might you have my glasses?”

Juliette seemed unperturbed, tugging old socks off of his feet and throwing them to the floor. She bent beside the bed, shuffling beneath it. “Unfortunately, your glasses were ruined on your journey to us. As soon as you’re mobile and eating, you’ll have an optometry appointment to have your eyes examined and a new set made for you. Now, swing your legs over the edge, please, take your time. There’s a fresh pair of slippers down here for you.”

Lee hesitated, face aflame. Slowly, he shifted his legs over the side of the bed, wrapping the thin shift around himself as he went to maintain  _ some _ kind of modesty. As soon as his feet were in the slippers and he was steadily upright, Juliette turned her back to him and motioned him onward into the bathroom. It took him a moment to get started, but the mobility aid did wonders for his balance, even though he felt like an invalid hobbling along in slippers that were just too big. 

Lee recognized the basics. He saw the toilet, the bathtub, a sink, but the rest of it was… luxurious. The floor and tub surround were tiled, the rest of it painted in a glossy grey to match the natural look of the stone. The tub was massive and seemed plumbed for running water, a luxury that only the highest members of the order were graced with. The sink was the same. There was a large mirror hung over the sink and Lee paused when he caught sight of himself, eyes wide. 

He was a mess. Both eyes were massively bruised, either from stones, fists, or even that his nose looked like it had likely been broken. His hair was greasy and matted, the blond strands showing signs of blood that had been washed away as much as possible considering he had been unconscious. Cheeks were thinner than ever, giving him a horrific gaunt appearance. He almost didn’t recognize himself. 

“Go ahead and use the restroom. I’ll want to make sure you’re all right before I help you get cleaned up,” Juliette said from the other side of the door. 

Lee jumped and winced as he tried to whip around to her in shock. “ _ Help _ me?”

She didn’t laugh at his panic, and Lee was eternally grateful. “Only to make sure you’re steady enough on your own and understand how the plumbing works, Mr. Johnston. I understand that many modern amenities might be unfamiliar to you. My job is to make sure you’re recovering, and that includes seeing to your mental health through this transition as well.”

Transition? “I… all right,” he sighed, too tired to argue after his modesty any longer. Juliette clicked the door closed and Lee hobbled to the toilet to relieve himself. 

It was apparent to him when he was finished that there would be no modesty or much privacy where Juliette was concerned. She interviewed him about his...emissions, more thoroughly than he was truly comfortable discussing with a woman he’d never met. But she was direct, and professional, in a way that might have put the Order doctor to shame. After each question, she moved her fingers over her glowing device, and after a fashion, Lee figured that was how she was documenting his health, as she’d said. 

“All right. I can help you get into the bath now, if you’d like. I wish I could let you shower, but you probably won’t be steady on your feet for long enough to be comfortable.”

Lee wasn’t sure what she meant by shower, but he ached and was tired enough to agree that standing didn’t seem preferable. “I, um… I appreciate all you’ve done to help me, ma’am, but I… I must insist on seeing to my own hygiene,” he said, face aflame. His head was starting to pound from the stress and his back hurt from being upright. 

Juliette just smiled sweetly. “I only intend to help run the bath and make sure you’re comfortable maneuvering yourself in the space. You’re a fall risk right now, and we can’t have that. Go ahead and lie back for a while, I’ll get the water running for you. Do you prefer hot water, or warm?”

Lee blinked, trying to take everything in while he settled gratefully against the pillows. “I… ah… yes?” Juliette stared at him for a moment and Lee felt ready to wither away. “Ah… thank you?” Whatever she was waiting for, she must have assumed she wasn’t going to get it, so she wandered into the bathroom. Lee heard the water start and thunder against the basin. Just the thought of clean, running water had him anxious to get back there, even as much as he ached. 

Juliette returned and helped remove his remaining bandages, gloved hands carefully inspecting the little stitched up wounds that remained. She hummed over them, and his neck when she removed the little brace. The feeling of her odd gloves against his skin was unsettling. 

“All right. I would like to report that you’re healed up enough for a long soak, but I think we should keep you out of the water a little longer. A quick bath should be fine, but I’ll have to have you out shortly. Are you still able to walk?”

“I think so,” Lee grunted as he swung his legs back over the edge of the bed. Juliette helped him stand again, walked him to the bathroom, and then left him to his devices at his insistence. The side of the tub was wide enough that he was able to sit on it and free himself from the awful gown, and he carefully got his legs into the steamy water and slid down the sloped back into the waiting bath. 

It was blasphemy to think that nothing was better than that hot water, but he thought it all the same. A shiver raked through his body at first, and he gasped a bit at the sudden intensity of the heat, but the discomfort was soon past. Lee groaned and settled against the back of the tub, the space large enough that his gangly arms and legs just floated. He’d never had a hot bath and the experience of having the aches practically leached from his body was something he’d never forget. He wondered if he’d be allowed to have another if he continued to answer the strange questions and behave himself.

There was bar soap on a space along the wall. Lee gathered it and gently scrubbed at his bruised body. The bright sconces revealed the extent of the bruising along his torso, some places where the skin had split from either stone or booted feet. Lee grimaced at himself and wondered at the remaining wounds. Surely he was in Darkness if he was still so injured. But why would such an angel be in the dark place caring for him? Was it part of his eternal torture? To be well cared for only to have more pain and horrors suddenly inflicted upon him?

Lee huffed at the panic that thought rushed into him and ducked his head to rinse his hair. Small wounds stung against his scalp, but he’d rather be clean. 

A knock on the door just barely announced the presence of a man, dressed similarly to Juliette. He introduced himself as John, an orderly, who was there to help Lee get out of his bath, dried, and dressed. Lee was ready to argue that he was fine on his own, but his limbs felt like jelly from floating in the water, and the feeling took entirely too long to go away. John was patient with Lee’s fumbling, practically hauling him out of the tub and keeping him upright while he helped Lee dry off. He sat on the edge of the tub while John paid extra attention to the worst of his cuts and bruises, and then wrestled Lee into a set of black clothes. They were soft, plush like rabbit fur, but not fur at all, and felt wonderful against the sensitive places along his battered body. He’d never felt anything like them. 

John helped him back to the bed and Juliette returned, this time without her device. Instead, a tray was on the wheeling table, along with the familiar pitcher of water. John added an extra pillow behind Lee so that he was properly sitting.

“Ready to try some dinner?” Juliette asked innocently enough. Lee’s stomach let out the angriest growl at the mention of food. He blushed, but Juliette only looked pleased. 

Between her and John, they set a tray over his lap and Juliette served the food. It was broth, little bits of green floating in the dark, clear liquid, lightly buttered toast, a strange cup with gelatinous, translucent orange juice in it, and a small bowl of applesauce. A mug of hot tea was beside his usual water cup and he took a moment to cradle it in his hands and inhale a scent all too familiar from home. 

He hadn’t expected it to make him so homesick.

“Will you be all right to eat alone tonight? Mr. Martin will join you tomorrow when you have more strength back,” said Juliette.

Lee frowned up at her, the memory of a table full of his brothers and sisters stretching out and filling the empty room in front of him. It vanished like a puff of smoke, leaving him faced with the purposely bland meal. “I… suppose.”

Juliette frowned. “Do you want me to stay with you?”

Yes. The idea of being alone was suddenly terrifying. “No, thank you,” he said softly to his broth. 

Juliette hesitated, but didn’t argue with him. She slipped a small black device onto his tray and pointed to the largest white circle at the top. “When you’re finished, hit this button. Someone will come to collect the tray and help you with whatever you need.”

Lee blinked at the strange thing and slowly nodded. “Thank you.” Juliette’s smile was less pleasant, more pitying. She gave his hand a gentle pat, and her and John left him alone in the large, quiet room. 

Lee had no desire to eat, but after the first spoonful of broth he couldn’t help himself. More weakness, he supposed. The weakness that got him there in the first place. He ate until his stomach cramped, leaving the strange, sweet orange thing alone after a single bite, and half the applesauce.

He didn’t press the button. Instead, he painstakingly moved everything off the tray, managed to get the tray onto the floor, and put everything back on, one thing at a time. His legs were still wobbly, and he was exhausted, but he didn’t want to sleep anymore. Instead, he took what remained of his lukewarm tea to one of the windows. 

There was a desk there, with a cushioned chair. Lee gratefully sat and stared into the twilight. The window looked out across a long balcony with cast iron railings, just a hint of an orderly garden visible over the edge, and then it was all trees and mountains. The moon hovered over the highest ridge, full and foreboding. It had barely been enough to see by as he trudged on through the dense trees along the Highway. 

What was happening at home? Had his Sacrifice been accepted? Had the Lord filled the storehouse again in their time of need, or were his siblings destined to starve for another month because Lee couldn’t even die properly? 

Tears stung his eyes and nose and ran like hot brands down his cheeks. Lee sat and sobbed until the moon moved across the ridge and darkness had fully fallen. The lights in the room didn’t dim to match the time, not like the gas lanterns would. Still, Lee dried his face and dragged his exhausted, aching body back into bed. All of his hurts were magnified, making it impossible to get comfortable, even on the cloud of a mattress he was on. He supposed it was no less than he deserved, and he sank into a deep, dreamless sleep. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Make sure to check me out on Tumblr at e-king-court for chapter updates and additional content.  
> https://www.tumblr.com/blog/e-king-court


	3. Chapter 3

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Lee finally meets a Mr. Martin and learns his new reality is even more vast than he anticipated. 
> 
> Warnings for panic attacks and medical intervention.

“Will I get to meet Mister...ah…”

“Mr. Martin?” Juliette asked from beside him. Her voice was pitched high around the stethoscope in her ears. 

Lee winced as the pressure cuff tightened around his arm. “Yes. Mr. Martin. The… ah… owner.”

Juliette finished checking his blood pressure and looped the stethoscope around her shoulders while she clicked away at what Lee had come to understand was a device called a ‘computer’. “You will be meeting Mr. Vincent Martin, Andrew Martin’s younger son.”

Lee scowled. “Why not Mr. Andrew Martin himself? Is this not his home?”

“It is, in a manner of speaking. Mr. Martin isn’t here at the moment. He’s in New York City for his health and might not be back here for some time, if ever,” Juliette patiently explained. She was being short with him and Lee supposed he deserved if. He’d finally snapped the night before, furious that he hadn’t yet been introduced to the mysterious Mr. Martin and apparently wasn’t going to be. Mr. Martin had “gone out”, so Lee was told. Lee had said some very inappropriate things to Juliette about her person and her behavior. 

To his utter surprise, Juliette had snapped right back. She called him ungrateful and let him know in no uncertain terms that she was not one of Lee’s ‘brood mares’ and he was never again allowed to speak to her with such disrespect. Lee was flummoxed and sat shocked on the edge of the bed, stunned at the sound of a woman’s raised voice, the look of fury on her face, and her body language, shoulders square and ready to fight. He’d never seen such masculine behavior from a woman before and it cowed him. 

He’d broken down. Horrifyingly, tears carved hot rivulets down his face, and Lee found himself on his knees, hands clasped and pressed to his forehead as he genuflected and confessed that he was terrified and confused and please, please would she tell him if he was dead, and if so, was he in the Eternal Kingdom, or had he fallen into Darkness?

Juliette had been softer then. Stern, but no longer a ball of fury. She’d assured him he was not dead, that he was indeed in the very real home of the very living Mr. Martin, being cared for by Mr. Martin’s personal staff. He’d been through an Ordeal. She understood that he was upset, but he still had to mind his manners. 

“I have so many questions,” he mumbled softly while she finished her poking and prodding. 

“I’m sure you do,” she said tersely. 

Lee winced. “I… I’m sorry, Miss Juliette. Truly, I am.”

She sighed, tight and heavy. “I know. You’ve said. You have a lot to learn.”

It had only been a few days, but Lee was beginning to realize that. 

Having been informed that he was still on the mortal plane and not a prisoner, Lee had been allowed to wander the space close to his room. He was only limited to the nearby area simply because he was still somewhat unsteady on his feet and Juliette insisted the house was too large for him to wander around unattended. 

Lee hadn’t been able to imagine a house so large one could get lost in it, until he’d finally stepped out on to the balcony and realized that it was one of four along the second story rear of the house. 

John collected him from his favorite seat on the balcony around noon. Lee was given more appropriate clothing to wear; a pair of simple pants and a button up shirt. Even so, they were finer than what he was used to wearing. The socks felt like butter against his skin, and the simple shoes were cushioned instead of hard soled like he was used to. Lee expected a jacket for the meeting, not feeling fully dressed in his shirtsleeves with no tie, but John didn’t have those things and simply led him down to the first floor and a small, private dining room. 

It was similar to the bedroom, with bright sconces along the walls that Juliette insisted were just lights. There were even inset ones on the ceiling, brightening the space over the glass top table. Lee was mesmerized by the glass everywhere. Glass wasn’t common in the community, generally used only for windows and the canning jars for their preserved food. There was also so much more metal than Lee was used to seeing. It existed, certainly, but was so scarce that there had to be a very good reason for it. Everything in this house seemed excessive and opulent, but everyone carried on as though it was so common. 

Lee was alone there for five minutes when the door finally opened and… a fine man walked in. 

It was painful to admit as he watched the gentleman step through the door, watched the sensuous way he shrugged out of his own well-fit jacket and threw it casually over the back of the nearest chair. Painful that at least in this the Elders were right. Lee wasn’t right with the Lord and hadn’t ever wanted a wife. The heat on his face as he watched the man approach was shameful, but Lee didn’t dare look away. 

Dark hair was swept back, away from deeply dark eyes, framed by a strong brow and a well tapered aquiline nose to a narrow mouth and narrow chin that broadened into a strong, square jaw. Handsome, and so unlike the rest of the men Lee was used to seeing. At home, everyone tended to have the same snubbed, boxy features, pale hair and pale eyes, with the occasional appearance of freckles, red hair, or hazel eyes. This man’s skin was smooth and burnished, like the boys who spent time in the sun, but he was coiffed and vain in a way Lee was only used to the Elder men being. It instantly put Lee on edge, afraid he was about to be subject to further punishment before finally being sent away to meet his Lord and fulfill his duty to die for Sacrifice. 

But then the man smiled, warm and bright, and approached Lee with his hand out.

“Mr. Johnston,” he said, voice smooth and a little smoky. “I’m Mr. Vincent Martin. Thank you for waiting for me.”

Lee’s mouth was instantly dry and he knew he looked a fool, eyes wide, trembling like he was as he took Mr. Martin’s hand. “A, ah...pleasure, Sir.”

A warm hand descended on his shoulder, grip strong and soft and surprisingly grounding. “Please, call me Vincent. We don’t stand on ceremony here if we can help it. Are you alright with hot sandwiches for lunch?”

Lee gaped a moment, taken aback by the impropriety of being invited to use Vincent’s given name so early in their acquaintance. “Uh, yes.”

Vincent smiled and motioned to his chair. “Please, have a seat. You look well, but tell me, how are you feeling?” he asked, walking around the small table to sit adjacent to Lee. He loosened his tie and tossed the end of it over his shoulder, out of the way.

Lee blinked at the strange action and cleared his throat. “I’m… well, but still very confused.”

Vincent nodded. “That’s to be expected. But you’ve been sleeping well? Eating? How has your pain been?”

Lee clambered after the rapid fire questions. “Ah, yes, yes, and much better the last couple of days. Miss Juliette has supplied me with a tonic to help keep the pain at bay. She’s been terribly generous.” Vincent gave him a knowing look, a smile quirking up a corner of his mouth and a sparkle of amusement in his eye. Lee flushed. “Ah, I’ve been less than gracious…”

Vincent chuckled. “Juliette told me you had a disagreement a couple days ago. I accept the blame, it was rude of me as your host to rush out before we were properly introduced, but I had urgent business that couldn’t wait. I hope you can forgive me,” he said, nearly recited, as though he’d thought out each word, or read it from a script. It matched the cadence Lee was used to, but felt stiff and unnatural coming from this man, dressed in the right clothes, but still somehow… wrong. 

“I did apologize. It was wrong of me to take my frustrations out on her. I see that now,” Lee said, ducking his head. 

Vincent snorted and waved it away. “Julie is a strong woman. I wouldn’t forget that if I were you. Piss her off again and I won’t be able to save you.” Lee gave him a startled look, more for the foul language than anything else, and Vincent just winked at him. 

Warmth blossomed along Lee’s cheeks. “I… ah… Is Miss Juliette your wife, then, Sir?”

Vincent let out a bark of laughter. “Absolutely not, she would eat me alive. That was a figure of speech,” he said quickly at the look of alarm on Lee’s face. 

“I see,” Lee hazard. He scowled. “Is it customary for you to have women you are not married to live and work on your property?”

Something dark flashed in Vincent’s eyes. Lee had said something wrong. “I have many intelligent women in my employ. Each one deserves as much respect as the last and they know not to allow anyone to speak to them in disrespect,” he said pointedly. 

Lee jumped and gaped. “I meant no disrespect, I only… I…”

Vincent held up a hand, silencing Lee, and surprised him by placing it gently on his arm. “I know all of this is quite the culture shock to you. But Julie says you’re a fast learner and already inclined to… some unorthodox ways of thinking.” He leaned forward conspiratorial. “Tell me, Lee. Have you already questioned the word of the lord in your good book?”

Lee felt as though he’d been dunked in ice water. “ _No_.”

Vincent’s grip on his arm tightened, but it was more grounding than threatening, not enough to hurt Lee’s remaining bruises. “Breathe, Mr. Johnston. Just breathe.” Lee took in a deep breath, eyes wide. “I am not here to judge you. This is not the Order. There are no Elders or Aldermen here. Do you understand?”

Lee took another few deep breaths. “But… But the Lord is…” he whispered, as though the Lord might smite him at any second if he dared to speak aloud the blasphemous thoughts in his mind. 

Vincent’s grip remained firm. “We can worry about the Lord at another time.”

Another time? The Lord was always present. What madness was this man speaking? 

The door at the end of the room opened and Vincent pulled away from him, leaving Lee to his personal panic attack while he helped a woman unload one of those wheeling tables that Juliette used. Lee just stared as a plate of steaming sandwiches was placed on the table, the bread toasted and oozing melted cheese around some unidentifiable cuts of what Lee had come to understand was meat. A thick red soup joined the dish of sandwiches, and a plate of cut vegetables to go with it. 

Vincent served him wordlessly, doling out half a sandwich and a shallow bowl of soup. Lee didn’t have time to consider how odd it was that a man, an important man, was serving him, instead of the woman who had brought the food. It was such a sin against the Lord. 

Lee bent over the table, head in his hands, and lightening speed mumbled out his prayers of penitence, the words pouring out of him in a barely conscious stream. Where was he? What madness had he walked into? Perhaps he was still unconscious on the Lord’s Highway? Perhaps Juliette had lied to him, and he truly was in the Darkness. 

“Mr. Johnston? Lee? You’re going to get through this. Just breathe,” Vincent’s voice said, only just drawing Lee out of his panic. 

“I’m so confused. I’m so confused,” Lee said over and over between bouts of prayer, eyes roving over the room. The lit sconces that definitely weren’t gas, the fresh vegetables and abundance of food, the clean water in _glass_. He squeezed his eyes shut. 

Vincent tugged his chair out and Lee curled in on himself. Warm hands chafed at his shoulders and upper arms, chasing away the chill of his fear. “I’m sorry. I should have been more careful with you. You’re a lot older than the children the Order usually trades us. I should have known better than to speak so freely in front of a Journeyman, this must be even more confusing for you,” he said, half to himself. 

Lee caught on one word in all that jumbled speech. “Trade?” he breathed.

Vincent’s hands slowed briefly. “We’ll worry about that later. Right now I just want you to focus on breathing.”

Lee’s fingers dug into strong arms, startling Vincent into stillness as Lee snapped his head back and stared into Vincent’s startled dark eyes. “Tell me.”

Vincent’s gaze firmed. He gently dislodged Lee’s hands from his arms. “Now is not the time.”

“Tell me what you mean!” Lee shouted. His face contorted and when he blinked heat speckled against his cheeks. 

Vincent sighed, something heavy and weary and bone tired. He grabbed a napkin and just stopped himself from wiping at Lee’s cheek. “Listen to me. There is a lot to explain. A lot of very, very confusing and conflicting information, especially for someone as old as you are and a Journeyman of all things. I can’t just _tell_ you. It won’t make any sense.”

“I don’t care, I can’t… I can’t…” Lee choked on his words. He crushed the napkin in his hand, bracing them against his knees. “Where am I? Why am I here? What’s happening to me?” He was supposed to be dead. Penitence for his sins against the Lord. The Sacrifice to fill the storehouse so that his family could eat. “The children,” he gasped, fresh tears blurring his vision. “If I’m alive then the Lord didn’t accept me and they won’t get to eat-”

“They will,” Vincent broke in, grabbing his shoulders again. “The children are fine. The storehouse is full. You’ve fulfilled your purpose as the Sacrifice, I promise.”

Lee gaped at him. “But… but I’m alive, how could you… you _can’t_ know that! I’ve failed the Lord again!”

“No - okay. Okay,” Vincent said as Lee lapsed into another bout of hyperventilation. He reached to the table, but Lee didn’t see what he was doing, vision blurring and narrowing as he gasped for breath. Vincent tugged him forward and Lee fought against spasming muscles to bend over his knees. The pressure on his abdomen helped slow his desperate gasps, forcing his lungs to take a shallow breath. “Easy goes. Julie’s coming.”

Lee didn’t need Juliette, he needed answers. He needed scripture, the Alderman. “Why am I alive? Am I alive?”

“You’re very much alive, Lee. Alive because you deserve to live.”

“I don’t -”

“You do.” Vincent said firmly. Lee shook his head. “You _do_.”

“I’m a sinner. I went against the Lord’s words. You don’t know the kind of devil I am and you let me sully your doorstep-”

“ _Please_ , Lee. Stop this. You’ve done nothing wrong. No one is suffering because of you, I _promise_.”

Lee gasped and shook his head. Marianne was suffering because of him. The children.

The burn on his arm startled him. He gasped and tried to jerk away, but Vincent had him in a death grip while Juliette carefully depressed the liquid fire into his vein. Lee groaned in discomfort and then groaned again as his world spun and everything got much, much slower.

“There you go. Easy does it. Breathe now,” Juliette said soothingly, fingers never wavering as she covered the needle with cotton and slowly withdrew it from his skin. Her touch firmed and Lee’s head dropped onto the nearest thing, which happened to be Vincent’s shoulder. Instead of pushing him away, Lee felt fingers at the nape of his neck, a thumb petting softly at the apex of his hairline. 

“A little liquid calm was in order. You’ll be alright,” Vincent’s voice rumbled to him softly. Lee let out a shuddering breath. “I knew this was going to be a disaster.”

“Shh!” Juliette snapped at him. “Are you all right, Mr. Johnston?” She pressed a bandage firmly over the already well bruised crook of his arm. Lee just nodded numbly against Vincent’s shoulder, loath to sit back and lose the warmth. “All right.”

“I’m sorry,” he whispered against Vincent’s collar. 

“There’s nothing to be sorry for,” Vincent assured him. Lee didn’t understand how he could say that considering the completely inappropriate way Lee was hanging all over him. But it felt nice, soothing. Vincent’s fingers were gentle against the back of his neck, rubbing softly along his arm around the bandage once Juliette was done with him. Such tender care that Lee hadn’t had since he was a child. Boys weren’t meant for such sensual touches after a certain age. It made them soft. 

In that moment, Lee didn’t care. He’d have sat there forever to feel Vincent’s fingers in his hair.

Vincent pulled back and Lee would have cried if he hadn’t felt so light and foggy. “All right now?” Lee nodded slowly. “Do you want to try and eat?”

Lee didn’t, but his stomach rumbled and gave him away. Reluctantly, he nodded. Vincent helped turn his chair back to the table and retook his own seat. Lee stared at the sandwich in front of him, the little bowl of soup. It was probably cold, having sat so long while he had a fit. Something else he’d ruined. 

“I’m sorry,” he mumbled to the bowl as he gathered his spoon. 

“There’s nothing to apologize for,” Vincent reiterated. He tucked a napkin into his collar and leaned over the table, eating his meal as though it wasn’t lukewarm and ruined from Lee’s carrying on. 

Lee blinked slowly at Vincent. Was there no mealtime prayer here? He supposed he shouldn’t be too surprised, considering how much everyone seemed to disregard the Lord in everything else. He sighed and said a quick prayer before he sipped a spoonful of soup. It was just as delicious as everything else he’d been given to eat since his first meal in this strange new place. The soup was made of tomatoes, something he was used to eating since tomatoes grew so well in the personal garden his mother kept. But the flavours had his eyes fluttering shut. Lee couldn’t even name all of them there were so many, and the soup was thick and creamy instead of watery like he was used to. 

He stared at the bowl, mind swirling, even as calm as he was. “Why am I alive?”

Vincent looked up from a strange little box in his hand. “It’s a very long story.” Lee sighed heavily and Vincent fidgeted. “It’s not that I don’t want to tell you, Mr. Johnston. It’s only that there is a lot to explain and over lunch isn’t the best forum to explain it. Can we start with where you are?” Lee nodded. Anything. Vincent smiled. “That’s a little easier to explain. You are about five miles from your community, on the other side of the ridge at the end of what your people call the Lord’s Highway.”

Lee scowled. “Five miles?” He glanced around the large room, remembered the sheer size of the building he was in. “How… I’ve never seen…”

“The community is very secluded in the valley. At this distance, with the foliage as dense as it is and on the other side of the ridge, I believe the property still registers as only a glow at the end of the road.”

Lee blinked. “Yes.” There was always a soft glow at the end of the Highway. The Good Book and the Elders called the ridge Judgement and the glow was the Lord’s seat where he would do just that for whoever walked the Highway. Lee blinked again at his soup and forced himself to take another bite. 

“We, my family, have been here as long as your community has existed,” Vincent continued around a mouthful of his sandwich. 

Lee refrained from grimacing and scowled instead. “Since the Beginning?”

Vincent shrugged, expression shifting into something Lee couldn’t place. “For about one hundred years? I’m not even sure it’s been that long.”

Lee blinked again at his soup. One hundred years? “All right.” That was clearly nonsense. He scowled again and set his spoon down. “So this place exists… outside of the Lord’s Haven?”

Vincent nodded. “Your community, Lord’s Haven, sits in the middle of my family’s property. On paper, the entire acreage is called Martin Meadows. Your community sits on roughly ten or twelve acres dead center, with about four or five miles of uncut forest surrounding it. This, along with Red Ridge, which is the general mountainous area, has kept you and your family completely secluded for at least seventy years.”

Lee stared at Vincent. This man was truly mad. Red Ridge? Martin Meadows? How could these things exist outside of the land the Lord had supplied to his people? “You mean to say… there’s… world?...beyond the edge of the world?” His head throbbed and he rubbed his temple. “The Lord says only His Judgement exists beyond the trees, I…”

Vincent watched him, hands folded in front of him now that he was finished with his meal. “There’s an entire world outside the boundaries of your community, Mr. Johnston,” he said, voice soft and calm. “Would you like to see?”

Lee’s eyes widened. He felt himself nod before he even registered he’d done so. He numbly heard Vincent ask if he was done with his food and nodded again. Vincent cleared the table and took the chair beside Lee. Even through the thick sweater, Lee could feel Vincent’s heat radiating into him and unconsciously leaned closer. He was so cold his fingers and toes felt numb. 

Vincent swiped his finger across the bright surface of the little flat box in his hand. At the angle, Lee could see that there were images on the bright surface, moving and flickering like ants scrambling across a stone in the sun. Vincent leaned further into Lee’s space, seemingly unconcerned, and handed the device to Lee. “Here we go.”

Lee blinked down at the brightness and the picture in his hands. He could see houses, fenced yards, and garden sheds and boxes, all photographed from above, as though the Lord were sharing his very sight with them. He recognized the temple and the temple yard. 

“Is… is this…?”

“That is your community, down in the valley, yes.”

Lee reached out and tentatively touched the red roofed temple. He jumped when the image flickered and move, shooting out to Lord knew where. Vincent very patiently reached over and had the image of the community back in the view in an instant. “That’s the temple,” Lee said, pointing to the building. Vincent nodded as though he knew. Lee gulped a little, but turned his attention back to the device, counting houses up from the building. “Then… then that’s…”

Vincent nodded again, reaching over to drag the house in question into the center of the device. He made an odd reverse pinch with his fingers, the house growing to dominate the screen. Lee could almost see every plant in the garden. “That’s your family’s house. Well, your birth mother and your biological siblings.”

Lee blinked. “How is this possible?”

Vincent hummed and this time pinched the screen, the image moving back out, showing the entire community once again. “This is a satellite image.”

“Satellite?”

The smile Vincent gave him was almost indulgent, as if Lee were a child instead of a grown man. “That’s another difficult question.” Lee shook his head at the obvious dismissal and Vincent ducked his head with a sigh. “Satellites are machines launched into the planet’s orbit, for various reasons, and there are far too many of them. Some of them are for communication, for phones and computers,” he said, tapping the top of the device. “Others are for observation and take very large, very detailed photos of the world we live in.”

Lee blinked. Perhaps he was a child. He didn’t understand a word of the nonsense Vincent was speaking. He looked down at the ‘image’ in his hands. “I see…”

Vincent sighed and reached over. He pinched again and the image scaled back, showing the woods surrounding the community. Lee glanced up at him questioningly, and Vincent pinched it again. This time, the house came into view, along with more of the ridge that surrounded the valley. 

Vincent pinched again and it kept going. And going. 

Lee sat stunned as the image grew. Vincent pointed out the farms and ‘factories’ that completely surrounded the valley, out of sight thanks to the shape of the land and the sheer distance between places. He pointed out other clusters out from there, places that turned out to be hundreds of buildings housing thousands of people. 

Vincent pointed out places with thousands of buildings. Places with millions of people. 

Vast expanses of land and water, and still it kept going.

Lee gaped down at the image within an impossible device held in his hands. He didn’t understand. He couldn’t. 

“There’s an entire world outside of the valley, Lee,” Vincent said softly, shrinking the image back down so that Lee could see the dot that was the valley and everything that surrounded it. The life that bustled just out of sight. “And now you’ll get to live in it.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Don't forget to follow me on Tumblr for news and more updates about Eternal and other works.   
> @E-King-Court


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